TJB Hall of Fame: Aaron Glenn
When honoring Aaron Glenn’s career with the New York Jets, fans should also walk away with a new understanding of professional football and — most importantly — life.
Forget every cliché about size and how big a man must be for a successful NFL career, because talent knows no size; and don’t hurry to apply the ‘bust’ label to a man’s name, because every set back is also a learning opportunity.
In the end, your first impression could be terribly wrong.
The Jets, holding the 13th pick in the 1994 NFL Draft, shuffled the board slightly when then-general manager Dick Steinberg sent a fifth-round pick to New Orleans and swapped places with the Saints for the rights to select Glenn, from Texas A&M, 12th overall.
When pre-draft speculation had the Jets targeting a wide receiver, the team instead went with the player who possessed the skills to cover them well. Instincts are, sometimes, everything.
Glenn played the first eight seasons of his 15-year career with Gang Green, racking up 24 of his 41-career interceptions in that time, including a career-high in 1998 with six picks. He represented the Jets in two of his three Pro Bowls, visiting Hawaii for back-to-back seasons in 1997 and 1998.
His achievements were well-deserved after his detractors were prepared to immediately dismiss the generously-listed 5’9″ Glenn as a bust. The criticism slowly faded after Nov. 26, 1995 — Glenn’s 27th regular-season start — when he notched his first interception in a victory against the Seattle Seahawks.
“It was a long time coming,” Glenn joked to the New York Times after the game. “I needed it so I could get the media off my back.”
That didn’t happen right away, as former Daily News writer Paul Needell accused Glenn of whining. But with the first pick came the first brick in the foundation of a legacy that would see him become one of the most beloved Jets in franchise history.
No Little-Man Complex
Glenn knew people doubted his abilities because of his size. It wasn’t something people whispered in fear of insulting him, or speculated upon in the media. The questions were blurted out, following him from college and into the pros.
People wondered how he’d match up against taller, more physical receivers. They wondered if he’d be able to disrupt a quarterback’s timing, break down a receivers’ pattern, or even become a legitimate starting cornerback.
Fortunately for the Jets, then-head coach Pete Carroll didn’t share those concerns. Instead, he and his staff evaluated Glenn’s game film and saw a player who didn’t jump off the page, but dominated on the field.
Glenn was elite where it mattered most. He played bigger than he looked.
Carroll spoke of Glenn’s “almost unmatched physical abilities” to the New York Times, and former defensive backs coach Ed Donatell echoed those remarks after working with Glenn. The young cornerback’s dedication to becoming a top defender was evident to everyone who worked with him.
“He has unusual closing quickness that is very rare,” Donatell said. “He can make up time.”
Despite notching only one interception in his first two seasons, Glenn was known for his ability to throw a blanket over receivers. He may not have come away with the pick, but the receiver wasn’t always going to come away with a reception.
“I had a vertical leap of 41 inches and I’ve played against tall receivers all my life,” Glenn said after being drafted. “I don’t think I have a problem at all.”
The Defining Moment
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6yPePa2EKc
The Fake Spike game lives in infamy, not only in the minds of longtime Jets fans, but in the heart of the cornerback who allowed the game-winning score.
A squandered 18-point lead resulted in a devastating 28-24 loss when Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino saw an opportunity to outsmart the Jets, and took it.
Marino distracted the defense by shouting, “Clock!” as he approached the line of scrimmage. Moving at half speed, everyone was caught by surprise when the ball was in the air for receiver Mark Ingram in the corner of the end zone — the same corner rookie Aaron Glenn was covering.
It was Ingram’s fourth touchdown of the day and the beginning of the Jets’ 1994 losing streak.
The following seasons were summarized masterfully by Times writer Gerald Eskenazi.
The Jets lost their final five games and have remained in the vortex of that loss. If they had won, they would have tied the Dolphins for first. Instead, it kicked off a stretch in which, over three seasons, the Jets are 3-20.
”I learned a lesson,” Glenn said. ”What it taught me was you can never take a play off.”
Despite losing seasons on struggling Jets teams, Glenn approached every snap with the intensity that made him one of the most reliable players to wear the uniform.
”I know it’s hard to play for something when you have nothing to play for,” Glenn said. “But my attitude is that this game that I play — the tape will go to 29 other teams and I want them to say, ‘See that 31? He’s playing hard.’”
”Plus, it’s embarrassing to get beat out there all alone.”
When Pro Bowl voting ended in December 1997, Glenn learned he would be preparing for his first trip to Hawaii in February. Long gone were the days where quarterbacks looked in Glenn’s direction and saw an undersized defender.
That was an elite corner roaming the secondary.
Lost in the Expansion Draft
In 2002, a high salary, a shift in the coaching scheme, and a new team in Houston looking to fill up their roster spelled the end of Glenn’s career with the Jets.
Former general manager Terry Bradway and coach Herm Edwards made Glenn available for the upstart Texans, and they jumped at the opportunity to select a 29-year-old franchise cornerback fresh off a five-interception season in 2001.
Upset that Bradway or Edwards hadn’t notified him of their decision, Glenn remained a consummate professional and took the prospect of wearing a different uniform in stride.
“I had a feeling it was coming, with the salary and everything,” Glenn told the Daily News. “I don’t know if I have a future with the Jets. I just don’t think I’m their type of guy as far as a corner.”
In his first season with Houston, Glenn nabbed five interceptions, returning two for scores, and recorded his only career sack for the right to attend his third and final Pro Bowl. He spent two more seasons with Houston before finding his way onto the rosters of the Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Saints, where he played in a limited capacity until 2008.
Through the Highs and Lows with the Jets
With more than half his career spent in a Jets uniform, the Texas-native embodied the underdog nature that often defines the organization.
After being discounted for his size, he was ultimately overlooked around the NFL for being part of dismal teams. When the Jets started winning, everyone took notice of the 5’9″ firecracker sitting in the back pocket of every receiver he was tasked with facing.
Glenn was trusted to jump for balls against receivers like Herman Moore, and asked to slice the field in half for every quarterback he faced. And when he was finished doing that, he’d win the field-position battle on special teams as a lighting-quick return man.
A competitor as an athlete and a leader of men, Glenn embraced the opportunity to bring along former college teammate Ray Mickens after the Jets drafted him in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft. Only two years (and one interception) into his career, and Glenn was the centerpiece of the Jets secondary.
While it was disappointing to see him go in the middle of his career, the impression he left on the organization isn’t one that will ever fade. Honorable men rarely do.
38 Responses to TJB Hall of Fame: Aaron Glenn
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Glenn was pretty good, but he probably wouldn’t start for the 2010 Jets—that is more of a commentary about Revis/Cromartie than a knock on Glenn
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david i says:
Main reason I hated the expansion draft!!!
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Dave TN says:
Congrats Aaron. I was very upset when they left him exposed.
The Jets lost a few guys to the Texans that year. If I remember, there was a right tackle and even another CB that they raided us for. Those guys had played well under Parcells, but didn’t do much afterwards- probably why I can’t remember their names.
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Bent says: Dave – Ryan Young and Marcus Coleman.
Aaron is the first DB into the TJB HOF, I believe.
Great article, Angel!
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BamBam says:
A great 104 yd kick return on a missed FG in Indy … no time on the clock in the 1st half… a heads-up and athletic play … Parcels liked this guy
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K-A-R-M-A … Ingram ended up in jail years after the fake spike TD with Glen in coverage
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Yeah, cheers Bent. I looked it up. Coleman had a nice career.
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TOON2388 says:
as of now, Glenn is best CB in franchise history – let’s hope in 2-3 years that is no longer the case and let’s hope many more receivers get stranded on Revis island
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Doctor K says:
Aaron Glenn – a Parcells guy through and through.
Nicely done. -
WW85 says:
I love these unheralded guys. CBs are doing a great job when you don’t hear their name because they aren’t being challenged. Nice pick!
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Angel Navedo says:
Doctor K,
Ironically enough, when researching this article, I found a blurb in the Times about how Parcells was riding Glenn and pushing him to show more effort. Apparently, he was among the vets who didn’t enjoy the hard practices.
I also wanted to write about the Colts return to punctuate how strong he was as a return man, but I figured the article was getting long & fans would want to share some memories too.
I’m glad TJB let me have the honor to write about him. I became a Jets fan during those awful seasons, and Glenn was one of the reasons I was proud to wear green despite the record.
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Rick12 says:
Coleman was horrible. Had a few bright moments and was burnt way too many times. The Jets office made a deal with the Texans to take Coleman because they could not cut him. The Texans would only take Coleman if the Jets included Glenn so they did.
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Bent says:
Rick – that’s correct. The expansion draft is pretty much the only way you can do an NBA-style salary dump. The Jets needed some cap space at the time and this was the best way to do it because you don’t get a dead money hit. Young was also unprotected for the same reason and the Texans would have agreed to select him with Glenn being the pot-sweetener (and also clearing further cap room).
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MarkD says:
Don’t engage in revisionist history. The Jets had huge cap problems the year of the expansion draft due to their continually reworking Vinny T’s contract. The expansion draft presented a unique opportunity to lose a player off of the roster with a high salary WITHOUT having the balance of his signing bonus accelerated against the cap. Ryan Young was actually a very cheap and promising rookie tackle with a 7th rounder’s salary. Charlie Casserly admitted during an interview that he had made deals with the Jets, (and similar ones with Jaguars and one other team) to select Glenn and Coleman if the Jets exposed Young. it saved the team from a massive purge to get under the cap that would have decimated the team. They tried to get Casserly to take Vinny T (and his extremely burdensome contract with huge bonuses) instead of Glenn and Coleman, but he wouldn’t do it.
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Bent says:
Ah, yes, that’s right, Young was the pot sweetener. I remembered it the wrong way round.
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Ahh, the bad old days. All that rings a bell. Rick12, it seems to me that Coleman was a Parcells / Belichick system guy that didn’t fit the defense under Bradway / Edwards- he played for the Texans for several years and then the Cowboys.
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ramble914 says:
Marcus Coleman was nicknamed “The Wizard” by Parcells, because he had this punchant for disappearing at times. Like in 1998, the final game of the season we were playing Buffalo and beating them bad, and in the last seconds of the game Coleman let the receiver get behind him for a TD. That TD cost the Jets the fewest points allowed in the season (266), Miami had the fewest, 265! They beat us by one point because of Coleman.
I will never forgive Marcus Coleman!
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I was at the Hoosier dome that day – a horrible loss. We did not lose again until Mile High in late January – another horrible loss.
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iJets says:
Nicely written.
Aaron and Chrebet are symbols of players that play above doubter’s expectations. Aaron and Chrebet epitomized success on game day through hard work.
Aaron deserves to be in the Jets HOF.
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atrain says:
Glenn was and is my all time favorite. they never threw the ball his way … he was smart and a great guy in person. he was fast as hell….. he would start on this team. noone could beat him out.
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phil says:
Disagree with the poster who said Glenn would not start on the 2010 Jets. Glenn in his prime, was better than Cromartie, especially prior to that ankle injury he had. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see Cromartie being better than Glenn in his prime. That doesn’t mean cromartie is not good, its just that Glenn was one of the best in the NFL at that time during his prime.
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eboozer says:
Didn’t they also have Ray Mickens, aka peanut, playing the nickle. Peanut is not a good handle for an NFL player. But like the boy named sue, maybe they had something to prove.
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JDB says:
Wow, that was what a highlight reel used to look like on ESPN?!
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T-Money (misses section 118) says:
Aaron Glenn! So glad TJB wrote this. Guys, it’s really my fault that the Jets let him go — he was my favorite Jet (after they traded Rob Moore, boo hiss), and so I eventually bought an Aaron Glenn jersey. He was promptly let go at the end of that season. I have a jersey curse. Sorry, everyone. But I did enjoy watching him and Rob Moore line up on opposite sides of the ball in the 1997 Pro Bowl.
Thankfully, right now the Jets have an even more impressive CB in Revis, and for once, everyone knows that the Jets are not to be messed with in the secondary.
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JesusRevis says:
before there was Revis… there was Glenn.
Always loved this guy
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k.c. says:
THOSE are the UNI’S we need to wear this year!….J-E-T-S JETS! JETS!! JETS!!!
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p.s. I dont know if I would put Glenn up there with Revis.
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KC – if Revis plays at this level for a few more years he will be the best CB in JETS history. Glenn played at a high level for over half a decade.
Mickens was a great slot CB – if Wilson can play like Ray use to, it will be a huge shot in the arn
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Tom in Raleigh says:
Glenn was a great Jet. A deserving member of TBJ HOF!
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MattNYC says:
Awesome post- Extremely well written- just gotta fix the year Ray Mickens was drafted… Wish it was ’06, we could still use him
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Angel Navedo says:
Great catch, Matt. Just fixed that now. My apologies!
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SackDance99 says:
Good addition, the best CB not named Revis in Jets history. Funny, as great as he was, I’ll always remember him for the Fake Spike and pulling his hammy in the Seattle game in 1998. Galloway was abusing him, the Seahawks got a big lead and it looked like the Jets would go on a typical late season swoon. Then, the Jets rallied and Vinny’s sneak that sure looked like a TD from the upper level catapulted the Jets to a December sweep. That’s still the best regular season game that I’ve ever seen. A real classic victory.
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Bent says:
His helmet definitely broke the plane of the two yard line. That’s a touchdown, right?
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Eric says:
Glenn was an awesome corner. In 1998-2001 i considered him the best cornerback in football.
NO one everrrrrrrrrr threw his way everrrrrrrrrr. His speed was awesome and he would be a starting corner in his prime today easily no DOUBT.
IN his prime he was faster then REVIS. One of the most underated players of all time .
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Injurys is what hurt his career. He would of been great for a longer time if it werent for those injurys. 1998-2001 he was easily the best corner in NFL. He was a shut down corner those years.
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Reprocity says:
Actually in that seattle game against Galloway he did get beat for two TD’s but he out jumped Galloway for a pick. I’ll never forget how high up in the air he was!!! He hurt his ankle on that play, but it was and still is the most amazing play I can remember to this day…
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not taking anything away from Aaron Glenn, but the fact that he is here before Bill Baird is wrong. Guess thats what happens when you get older, but if you look at this guys career stats , same amonty of years as a jet, 34 interceptions in 98 games, punt returns, kickoff returns he has it over over Aaron. lets start looking back to 1960 when we start talking about the great ones , and give the guys then their due. it wasn’t all namath, Maynard and Hill! Thatt being said, welcome to this HOF Aaron, you were great in any era.
Aaron Glenn! Man, I would have forgotten all about him. One of the great players of my childhood.